It was a rainy night in Paris; Eponine sat in front of the window of the ABC café watching the rain trickle done the window and fall into large puddles on the stone street. She had much on her mind; Marius has been seeing Cossette often of late, despite of her feelings which she has been hiding from him, in fear that he will shun her for it. There she sat in deep thought, staring at the gloomy weather outside; she gave no attention to the footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Still here Eponine? Everybody else has gone already." Said a voice, it was Enjorlas. Eponine looked back at him, trying to hold back tears as not to embarrass herself.
"Yes I'm afraid; I don't want to go home. Papa hasn't been too kind lately" she puts her hand over the bruise on her arm. Enjorlas nods understandably and walked over to Eponine and sits beside her.
"General Lamarque's funeral is tomorrow. That's when we're going to strike, our friends are ready, however Marius"
He pauses and shakes his head.
"Marius doesn't know the importance of this, he goes off with that woman more often than he meets with us, I understand that he is in love with her but he must put his priorities in order."
Those words 'I understand that he is in love' stabbed Eponine in the chest, she tried much harder to hold back tears; she changed the subject hardly being able to bare it.
"How can you talk of revolution and death so easily? Doesn't the fact that you might die give you a foreboding feeling at all?"
"I admit, the thought of death puts a bit of fear in our hearts, but Eponine, we must conquer over this fear, if we are to conquer over tyranny"
Eponine smiled back, she noticed a small glint in Enjorlas' eyes, a glint of which she never noticed before and she caught herself staring into them; He smiled softly and Eponine looked away, her cheeks turning scarlet. She looked down at her little feet trying to think of a way to change the subject. It wasn't that she didn't like Enjorlas because she did; she felt it in her shaking body. But she was nervous, scared of getting hurt again. He looked at her and narrowed his brown eyes.
"Eponine? Are you alright?"
"Fine"
"Look at me Eponine"
After a moment of brief pause she slowly turned her head toward him and he looked right into her eyes. He began stroking her cheeks, they felt smooth and silky. He lightly grabbed her face and tilted his head toward hers. Eponine starting shaking more, she couldn't believe this was happening. She couldn't contain herself any longer and she tilted her head toward Enjorlas. They stopped for a brief moment to glimpse into each other's eyes until they began to kiss, the kiss was short but soft. When they pulled away from each other Eponine was speechless, her whole body quaked with excitement.
"Enjorlas, I- I don't know what to say"
"Not another word"
He lightly grasped her face but Eponine lunged herself into Enjorlas' arms and kissed him hard on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his head and the world stood still, suddenly Eponine felt happy, for the first time in her life she felt like there was somebody who cares for her, who loves her. When they looked into each other's eyes she began to tear. Enjorlas wiped her tear away and smiled again.
"Do you know why I did that 'Ponine?"
"Tell me"
"It's rather hard to explain, I have always thought of you as a subtle and quiet woman but I knew deep down you were somebody else."
Eponine giggled "I thought you were striving for a larger goal? Didn't you lecture Marius on this last the other night?"
"Yes but I hide it, I can't show the others that im distracted by other things. I have to show them that what we are doing is bigger than ourselves, and that we must sacrifice everything to see it done, I have to be a leader."
Eponine lightly tilted her head and stroked his cheek. "You are a leader, your strong, proud, determined… your friends will follow your through this to the death… and so will I"
Enjorlas opened his mouth to speak but Eponine put a finger on it and she kissed him again, the warmth of his kiss sent chills through her body and she wrapped her arms around him again. She moved herself so she was sitting onto his lap and kissed him harder. The warmth of his body was relaxing despite the cold room, she took in his body heat and the sweet smell of his breath and hair. She lay her head on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around his waist while Enjorlas started rubbing her back.
"Enjorlas" she said softly
"Yes 'Ponnine?"
"J'taime"
Enjorlas smiled and they looked into eachother's eyes and blushed together. He stroked her cheek and Eponine closed her eyes, his touch sending dramatic chills through her body and her heart thumbing like it was stuck by lighting.
"J'taime"
